Pet Pythons

Pythons as Pets.

Pythons are becoming a more preferred pet than cats and dogs. They are easy to house and don’t require any where near the space of other pets. Pythons don’t require daily feeding and will grow happily on weekly feeding. Their diet consists of mice, rats, quails and chickens, all of which are relatively cheap and available at most pet shops.

Housing

Most pythons will grow quite large and will require a very minimum of 4ft x 2ft x 2-4ft sized enclosure. The enclosure size will vary in height and length depending on what sort of snake you intend to house. Arboreal pythons will require more height to climb in and terrestrial pythons will require more ground room and not as much height.

Heating
Heating is essential for most captive Australian pythons kept in indoors. Reptiles are cold blooded and therefore need heat to become active, stimulate their hunger and digest food properly. Temperature and humidity requirements vary between species so seek advice or research the reptile first. Heating at night time is not normally needed. As much as they need to warm up they need to cool down.

UVB Lighting
Although not proven either way to be essential or not. UVB lighting should be used as a preference over none at all. UVB lighting will assist in the production of vitamin d3 in the python which is essential for health and growth. UVB lights will also enhance the snake’s natural colour keeping them looking shiny and vibrant. Only use a Compact 2.0 or 5.0.